Cited by 846Adipokines, Inflammation, and Metabolic DiseasesAdipose Tissue and MetabolismCardiovascular Disease and Adiposity

Obesity, inflammation and the immune system

Open access
de Heredia, Fátima Pérez, Gómez-Martínez, Sonia, Marcos, Ascensión·2012·Proceedings of the Nutrition Society

Abstract

Obesity shares with most chronic diseases the presence of an inflammatory component, which accounts for the development of metabolic disease and other associated health alterations. This inflammatory state is reflected in increased circulating levels of pro-inflammatory proteins, and it occurs not only in adults but also in adolescents and children. The chronic inflammatory response has its origin in the links existing between the adipose tissue and the immune system. Obesity, like other states of malnutrition, is known to impair the immune function, altering leucocyte counts as well as cell-mediated immune responses. In addition, evidence has arisen that an altered immune function contributes to the pathogenesis of obesity. This review attempts to briefly comment on the various plausible explanations that have been proposed for the phenomenon: (1) the obesity-associated increase in the production of leptin (pro-inflammatory) and the reduction in adiponectin (anti-inflammatory) seem to affect the activation of immune cells; (2) NEFA can induce inflammation through various mechanisms (such as modulation of adipokine production or activation of Toll-like receptors); (3) nutrient excess and adipocyte expansion trigger endoplasmic reticulum stress; and (4) hypoxia occurring in hypertrophied adipose tissue stimulates the expression of inflammatory genes and activates immune cells. Interestingly, data suggest a greater impact of visceral adipose tissue and central obesity, rather than total body fat, on the inflammatory process. In summary, there is a positive feedback loop between local inflammation in adipose tissue and altered immune response in obesity, both contributing to the development of related metabolic complications.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1017/s0029665112000092

Cites

51 of 51 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • CMV reactivation might be more frequent in obesity because excess adiposity drives chronic systemic inflammation and oxidative stress, which can reactivate CMV directly.

    “CMV reactivation might be even more frequent in obesity, because excess adiposity drives chronic systemic inflammation and oxidative stress (Aroor and DeMarco 2014; Cervellati et al. 2014; de Heredia et al. 2012; Kanneganti and Dixit 2012; Le Lay and Simard 2014), which in turn can reactivate CMV directly (Cinatl et al. 1999; Docke et al. 1994; Jaganjac et al. 2010; Prosch et al. 1995; Speir 2000;”

    From Is immunosenescence influenced by our lifetime “dose” of exercise? (2016) · cites this paper as de Heredia et al. 2012

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

1 of the 52 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Gorman C, Park A & Dell K (2004) Health: the fires within. Time (23 February, USA edition) 163(8), 38-45.
  2. Trayhurn P, Pe ´rez de Heredia F, Wang B et al. (2010) Hypoxia -role in adipocyte function and dysfunction. In Novel Insight into Adipose Cell Functions, pp. 45-60

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
de Heredia, F. P., Gómez-Martínez, S., & Marcos, A.
Affiliations
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (ES)
Venue
Proceedings of the Nutrition Society
Published
2012-03-20
Volume
71
Issue
2
Pages
332-338
ISSN
  • 0029-6651 (ISSN-L)
  • 1475-2719
OpenAlex
W2001652786
Cited by
845
References
52
Citations by year
2026: 32 · 2025: 97 · 2024: 87 · 2023: 94 · 2022: 92 · 2021: 86 · 2020: 65 · 2019: 47 · 2018: 44 · 2017: 35 · 2016: 39 · 2015: 37 · 2014: 39 · 2013: 40 · 2012: 10
FWCI
5.07
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Proceedings of The Nutrition Society (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DIGITAL.CSIC (Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Adipokines, Inflammation, and Metabolic Diseases
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Adipose Tissue and Metabolism
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Cardiovascular Disease and Adiposity
Keywords
obesity, chronic inflammation, leptin, adiponectin, free fatty acids, Toll-like receptors, adipokines, endoplasmic reticulum stress, hypoxia, visceral adipose tissue, abdominal obesity, immune function, metabolic disorders, children and adolescents
MeSH terms
Adipose Tissue, Hypoxia, Endoplasmic Reticulum, Fatty Acids, Humans, Immune System, Inflammation, Obesity, Overnutrition, Adipokines, Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review